About the Bowyer

Hello, my name is Jim Neaves, owner of Centaur Archery. My beginning days as a bowyer started in 1995 when I became intrigued with self bows. I had many attempts and to my surprise not too many failures. But there were certain days that the earth shattering crack of a self bow in the works would have me hanging my head low. Never the less, I kept building and hunting with them quite successfully. My love for archery continued to grow and I decided to start building bows for extra income. At this point I decided to venture into laminated bows for warranty purposes. With the help of a friend of mine, Daryl Forseland, of Wildwood Archery, I was able to build my first laminated longbow. I had now found my new passion. It seemed I couldn't get enough of it. Steadily I would build bows, one after another. Constantly trying new woods and seeking a better design. Years of testing and building brought into my life another good friend well known to the traditional community, Gordon Mickens of Selway Archery.

After working with Gordy building quivers for a couple of years he asked me if I would like to start building the Selway bows. You could not imagine my excitement when he asked me to build longbows for such a reputable company.

I began using a form that I had in my shop that was similar to the previous Selway form, but had a tad more reflex. This became the new "Lil' Shooter". Not long after, Gordy and I decided to build a new form. The idea was to get a shorter bow that would draw as smooth as the previous bow. This was the birth of the "Lil' Magnum". Smoothness of draw was accomplished and we picked up 7 feet per second shooting the same weight as the previous form. In 2005, Gordy decided to get out of the longbows and sell that portion of the business to me.

I would like to give a special thanks to Gordy for all of the help, support, and knowledge he has given me to start my dream and career. I would not be where I am today without him. I would also like to give thanks to my friends and family for all of their support as well. None of this would have been possible without you.

In addition to my bow building career, I have also developed an understanding for how important it is to take care of myself in terms of health. Every fall season I enjoy putting on several miles in the elk woods and doing it with strength, confidence and excess energy. When it is time to get out and do any of the outdoor activities that my wife and I enjoy, I do not want to have my health be the reason that I can't go. Because of this mind set, I believe that constant daily lifestyle and engrained good habits allows me to have abundant health and prevent problems in the future. I really enjoy sharing with people, my approach towards this type of lifestyle and why I believe this is the key to long lasting vibrance and quality of life. I believe this is a personal responsibility for all of us and most of us lack support around basics that actually bring good health into being. If this approach makes sense to you and you would like to begin to incorporate some of the simple basics and good habits into your life, then simply click on this link so you can see how I do it. I am not a health professional by any means, I just enjoy supporting those who would like to have support around the tried and true fundamentals.

http://www.creatingourfutures.com/pdf/HealthApproach.pdf